HOUSTON – (Realty News Report) – Clay Development & Construction has broken ground on 650,000 SF of spec warehouses and manufacturing buildings in the Houston area.
Speculative construction of distribution space has been a common occurrence in Houston. But growing demand for spec manufacturing buildings is sending a new signal to the Houston economy.
“In 2025, 30 percent of new business announcements in Houston came from manufacturing companies,” said Robert Clay, president of the Houston-based firm. “Among them are firms producing transformers, batteries and alternative energy supplies, as well as traditional Houston oil field services and light manufacturing concerns.”
Houston: The Capital of Solar Energy
Today’s users of Houston industrial space include solar and alternative energy manufacturers, with at least seven notable solar energy real estate deals in the last two years, including firms that manufacture solar panels, he says.
“Houston has become the Capital of Solar Energy,” Clay said.
Several new Mexican manufacturers of steel products have opened new facilities in Houston recently, Clay said. Other new tenants leasing industrial space include equipment and materials manufacturers, light-assembly operations, e-retail, last-mile logistics firms, and battery makers.
Clay has recently commenced construction on a spec manufacturing building in the Pedersen West Business Park in Waller County, west of Houston. The 31,800-SF building will support a 20-ton crane.
Mexican Steel Companies Eye Houston
According to a recent report by the Colliers Houston real estate firm, the vacancy rate for manufacturing space is just 2.3%. The overall industrial vacancy rate is 7.5%.
Houston’s surge in demand for manufacturing space “is driven by rising re-shoring and on-shoring demand,” the Colliers report said.
Other Clay activity includes:
Uplands Twinwood: Clay broke ground on a total of 552,240 SF in two buildings in the Uplands Twinwood Business Park in Brookshire, west of Houston. The 291,720-SF Twinwood Distribution Center IV and the 260,520-SF Twinwood Distribution Center V will be completed in early 2027. John Ferruzzo, Woody Hillyer and William Carpenter of KBC Advisors, in addition to Copeland Rhea of Clay Development & Construction, handle leasing of the new buildings.
In another Twinwood deal, Bridge Logistics Properties acquired Clay’s Twinwood Distribution Center III, a 767,520-SF industrial building in Brookshire. Clay Development completed the building in 2024. Connor Tamlyn is managing director of Bridge Logistics. The building is leased to Crane Worldwide Logistics, a company led by Jim Crane, owner of the Houston Astros.
Kennedy Greens South: Clay Development & Construction has broken ground on Kennedy Greens Distribution Center V, a 63,440-SF distribution center on 4.2 acres at 13740 JFK Boulevard at Lauder Road, south of Bush Intercontinental Airport in North Houston. With this spec project, the 145-acre Kennedy Greens South Business Park will be fully developed with 1,653,590 SF of industrial buildings. Located south of Beltway 8 and west of Highway 59, Kennedy Greens South property was acquired by Clay in 2013.
July 6, 2026, Realty News Report Copyright 2026
Feature image: Twinwood Construction. Courtesy Clay Development and Construction
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File: Clay Starts Spec Industrial Projects Twinwood Clay Starts Spec Industrial Projects, Pederson Road